​After several hours of deliberation, a jury returned a verdict of not guilty in the felony animal cruelty trial of Tyrone McGill, the former animal shelter manager indicted in August 2010 following a May '10 incident at the Dallas animal shelter involving a cat trapped behind a wall that wasn't freed until long after it had died. Upon hearing the verdict, the 61-year-old McGill, a slight man, removed his round glasses and sank into his seat, where he rocked back and forth, seeming to sob silently. He then sat for a long moment at the table, his eyes shaded with his hand. When he finally recovered enough to stand, he thanked the judge and hugged his family members before leaving the courtroom.

Out in the hallway, McGill told a small crowd of reporters, "I thank God, my team, family and my friends." He said that his time on leave had been "frustrating," adding, "I'm not ready for retirement." Although he wants to return to work for the city of Dallas, which has been paying him since putting him on administrative leave last year, where he'll land is "not up to me." At the moment, he's still employed in code compliance, the department of which Animal Services is a division.

During closing arguments this morning, the prosecution never argued that McGill had deliberately tortured the cat. Rather, attorneys said he took little action to rescue the animal himself, and prevented his employees from cutting a hole in the wall to remove the cat, both of which constituted torture in their "reckless disregard" for the animal's well-being.

"He's not guilty because he allowed it to happen," Assistant District Attorney David Alex told the jury. "He's guilty because he prevented [the cat from being rescued]. ... There was a culture of fear and intimidation going on at that shelter."

"I know you've seen some pictures that are disgusting," ADA Brandon Birmingham told the jury, referring to pictures of the cat's rotting corpse that were briefly shown during the first day of the trial. "But there's only one way to show you what the reckless conduct of Mr. McGill did." The responsibility for the cat's death was McGill's, Birmingham said. "If he's not responsible, nobody is." It didn't matter whether the cat had been someone's pet or a feral creature, he said (it was never established in the trial if the cat in fact belonged to anyone). "That poor cat in the wall is an animal. ... Feral cats deserve protection too."

But defense attorney Anthony Lyons argued that prosecutors had failed on all counts to prove their case. "They haven't proved how that cat died," he told the jury. "What if the cat died from normal causes?" For that matter, he continued, "Where is the cat? This is a criminal case. That cat was evidence. Where is the cat?" He argued that an animal cruelty officer, one of the prosecution's central witnesses, had never even talked to McGill to see what the manager had done to rescue the cat.

Lyons referred the jury back to the group of witnesses he produced yesterday, which included both Equipment and Building Services staffers and shelter staff, who said they had helped McGill look for the cat, set traps, lift ceiling tiles and throw food in an attempt to rescue the cat.

"I brought you every person who did something with this man to get that cat out of the wall," Lyons said. "They're not giving him credit for nothing he did, and he did something every day."

"That's an innocent man," Lyons said, gesturing at his client, shortly before he concluded. "He did too much to be sitting here."

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I cannot believe he has been paid this entire time. he was arrested over a year ago. But please do not let him go back to work, especially as the city manager. Mark Cooper has made amazing strides here over the past year. With Mr. Mcgill in charge it was as bad as Garland. I have seen many emails where Mr Cooper reaches out to rescue groups to save an injured animal because he will not let it suffer.

That's an injustice. Tyrone McGill is responsible for this cat's death. If they "did everything they could" then why didn't they cut a hole in the wall for the cat to come out? People make me sick! That poor cat died a slow death due to this POS Tyrone McGill.

So the ASSHOLE got off. Dallas is full of these types. I seem them everyday at work. They like to use the line "What it is, what it is". All they want to do come to work not do much and get their paycheck. The man is a god damm coward, afraid that putting a hole in the wall might piss off someone higher up. I sure hope someone else who cares for animals is running the place now. I know the perfect city job for him, garbage collector.

It is a sad day in Dallas when the previous commenters on this story have so little faith in the jury that heard this case. Unlike the commenters, the jury heard all the evidence and arguments made in the case. Until this story, the Observer hadn't told us that anyone had testified for the defense besides McGill himself. I think the DMN's coverage was similarly one-sided. I suspect the jury wondered why only McGill was indicted and nobody else was. Although it is very sad that the cat died the way that it did, I am willing to give the benefit of the doubt to the apparently hard-working jury.

Let's see ... they lifted ceiling tiles, set traps and what happened ... nothing ...

They could hear the cat scratching in the wall but could not cut an opening in the wall until the cat was dead and stinkin' up the joint. The sound must have been incredible since the cat wore down its claws trying to get out.

How did they know where to cut the opening in the wall to remove the dead cat?

It is not as if they had to make multiple openings in the wall to find the corpse.

This is a sad, sad day for the City of Dallas and the citizens of Dallas.

According to the Judeo-Christian tenets, when God gave man dominion over the animals that was as a wise steward, not as a sadist.

This is a classic case where an act of ommission is just as odious as an act of commission.

Dallas County jurors are loathe to convict people. The prosecutors worked hard in this case, but they can't force 12 people to make the right decision. In the age of CSI, juries too often want the impossible.

You can forget about any outside support for the shelter as long as he has any role in it. We have animals that need help all over this area. If Dallas City is completely inept, I'm sure the ones in Irving and Richardson and Duncanville are just as deserving.

It shows a lot about the quality of our crack prosecutors. People wonder why others roll their eyes when people talk about things getting better in Dallas City.

When the animal services director doesn't give a damn about a living, breathing animal crying and clawing for days and days, you have to know there is a real problem with the system. And when a jury can't convict this murderous torturer that is even sadder.

Wow, im not shocked at the outcome, i've said it for years people around here dont care about helpless animals and its been proven by a jury of mouthbreathers, which im guessing a few are from Mr. McGills neck of the woods. Congrats Dallas, you had the chance to have a shining moment and you screwed it up again..

Wow, thats an insult to garbage collectors, who in my experience, are at least decent people working an unimaginable job, and not making 60,000/yr. Mr. McGill, you are a SERIOUS piece of crap. Hell, that may be an insult to pieces of crap to compare them to you.

"Lyons referred the jury back to the group of witnesses he produced yesterday, which included both Equipment and Building Services staffers and shelter staff, who said they had helped McGill look for the cat, set traps, lift ceiling tiles and throw food in an attempt to rescue the cat."

Only to find someone not guilty. The word of the jury, hower stupid, is the law of the land. I just thi k there is a group of people in this city that would never jail a man for hurting an animal. They just do not care. I had a conversation with someone that said her family over the years just abandoned pets when they got tired of them. She was not a cruel person. It was just people are people and animals are lower.

He will have no role in Animal Services. There is no place for him. We have a new shelter manager who has decades of experience (as opposed to McGill) and truly cares about the animals. She helped make Richmond, VA, a no-kill city and can do the same thing here.

I am heartbroken at this verdict. Even in the most chaotic circumstances, somebody could get a rescue group in there to save an animal in need. It takes an email, a phone call, nothing much. So sad for the City of Dallas today.

I understand Watkins, personally, did not prosecute the case; the concern I was raising is whether or not the ability to successfully prosecute cases in Watkins' office has been compromised by all the recent political turmoil, firings, resignations, etc.

David Alex has been there quite awhile, I believe and seems pretty decent. The question would be whether he might be stretched too thin. Any sense for whether that might have been an issue in this case?